Chocolate Dipped Tahini Shortbread Cookies

I love shortbread cookies and the danger in that is that I can never just have one. Each bite leaves me craving for more and more. We saw a food documentary once and according to it these cookies are made up of two ingredients that make foods addictive. Fat and sugar. Apparently food that is especially addictive are those that have a perfect balance of sweet and fat in it - like ice-cream for example. Isn’t it true that we find ourselves craving it a lot and bite after bite it just tastes better and better. Perfect combo of sweet and fat! These cookies fall into the same category. They have some sugar in them and they definitely have the fat component covered with the butter.

What makes these even more addictive is the tahini in them giving them a nuttiness and adding a slight hint of savory richness to them too. To top it off they are dipped in chocolate something that I’m already addicted to even without it being on these cookies. Basically what I’m trying to say is that you won’t be able to walk away from the cookies jar once you have had a bite of these.

They are truly simple to make. They have a high fat content like most shortbread cookies and therefore need to be refrigerated or placed in the freezer for a time before baking them, otherwise they are too soft to handle and roll. Once the batter is cold enough it’s quite easy to work with. I keep my batter in the fridge between batches baking if I’m making a few batches of them.

As far as short bread cookies go these have a wonderful crumb with a melt in your mouth kind of texture. Was it over the top to dip them in chocolate? Absolutely not cause the cookies are not overly sweet and the chocolate also adds a another layer of texture as do the sesame seeds, and a welcome cocoa flavor to them. They truly are delicious and addictive and a must to try! Hope you do. I know you will love them!

Recipe

Makes approx 20 medium sized cookies (more or less depending on size you make them)

Ingredients

1¾ sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature

1 cup of sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup of tahini

2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 pinch of salt

5 oz of dark chocolate or semi sweet melted to dip the cookies in

¾ of sesame seeds to sprinkle on the cookies

Directions

Place the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to combine and set a side.

Place the sugar and the butter in a large bowl and mix on medium for about 2 minutes until mixture is light and fluffy

Add the tahini and vanilla extract and mix until fully incorporated.

Transfer the dry ingredients to the tahini mixture and beat until incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl to keep the mixture uniform. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight. (Dough can be wrapped and frozen for a few months)

Once ready to bake preheat oven to 350°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper

Scoop out batter using a cookie scoop place in hand and roll into a ball and place the rolled dough on the baking sheet. Continue, leaving a little space in between balls to allow room for the cookies to expand.

Bake for approx 15-20 minutes until cookies are light brown around the edges and set. If both trays dont fit into the oven to bake at the same time, store the other tray in the refrigerator while you wait to bake them.

Once done remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes then transfer to cool completely on wire rack

While the cookies are cooling it’s time to melt the chocolate. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate in 30 second increments until completely melted. When the cookies have cooled completely, dip one half of each cookie into the melted chocolate, scraping the excess off the back of the cookie (scrape it along the side of the bowl).

While chocolate is still wet, dip or sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Set on a piece of wax or parchment paper to dry completely. If needed, place the cookies into the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes to harden the chocolate.